I walk the line

The current book I am reading.

I don't remember buying this book, and think that it was a leaving gift from a previous job.  It's been in my possession for a number of years, probably in double-figures at this stage, waiting for a time for me to start it.

That time was a few days ago. I am 130-ish pages in, and am not sure I will finish the book unfortunately.  The author is on a journey to walk the route of all of the underground lines in London above ground, through the neighbourhoods in which they operate all the way from the bustle of the city, to the leafy suburbs.  The journey takes him through all the markets, around the alleyways and past the attractions of the centre of town.

You imagine that the author would then give a little introduction to some of the stations along the way then? Some have pages written about them, but some are only mentioned in passing - I feel there are many missed opportunities here and a lot of interesting local history about lesser known parts of London is completely glossed over!

The writer's tone is really sarcastic and heavily weighted with annoyance at all things - including shopping centres, most stations on the Bakerloo line, modern architecture, people who somehow dare to be gay (how could they possibly!) and the only characters who are given any weight or proper attention are men.  The women he passes are either referred to just by their physical attributes ("the blonde" "the leggy brunette") or referred to as tarts or that they were probably having abortions.  The author is very disgruntled that a woman - a WOMAN! - is studying The Knowledge to become a London cabbie.

It seems the journey was taken in 2010-2011 and the language used in this book really seems to age it, to even the early 2000s.  The author's opinions are, however, from around 1700 in some areas...

It has been a rather busy day with work for the past two days - I missed a blip yesterday unfortunately so I won't have made a whole year of daily photos... It feels criminal to miss a day this early in the journey!